The so-called “school to prison pipeline” has been a significant aspect of many discussions among education policymakers over the past several years. The idea that overly harsh or capriciously applied school discipline policies are priming students to fail later in life has led to a variety of local, state, and federal initiatives and laws designed to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions meted out for even the most flagrant and repeated infractions of school rules. Those who support this new direction—which is a stark contrast to the “zero tolerance” policies of only a few years ago—are certain that a less consequence-laden environment will benefit a broad spectrum of our public school students.

​I always questioned the underlying logic of this new approach. Back in 2016 when legislative passage of SB 100 here in Illinois mandated a reduction in school punishments, I was not the only educator who wondered about the outcome, and I shared my concerns in a commentary published on my own blog and elsewhere entitled “Illinois Is Trying Out A New School Discipline Law, But Will It Make Schools Safer?”. Although I am certain there are many who still advocate for these new policies, the ongoing and serious teacher shortages experienced here in Illinois, which now impact 80% of the districts in our state, have been exacerbated by teachers leaving the profession in droves. This speaks to a crisis that many studiously choose to ignore.

However, teacher shortages are not only an Illinois problem. National statistics show that far fewer college students are majoring in education—and efforts to increase the pool of teachers through alternative certification programs have had only a marginal impact. Many districts struggle to even keep enough substitute teachers on board to cover normal daily teacher absences.

​Proposals to increase teacher salaries will hopefully encourage some to consider careers in education, but I do not believe a few more dollars in pay is going to be the magical incentive that many believe it will be. Except for a relative handful of egregiously overpaid administrators, K-12 education has never been a road to riches. Looking back over time, very few people became teachers because they were expecting stock options. Most entered the field—and stuck with it—because they enjoyed their students and derived great personal satisfaction from helping young people to learn in a safe and respective school environment.

​How much has this changed in today’s classrooms? National statistics from 2015-16, which I am certain grossly underreport the problem, indicate that 5.8% of teachers were physically assaulted by their students, and close to 10% were threatened with physical injury. These statistics fail to capture the ongoing and pernicious psychic toll of the rude, insulting, and slanderous treatment that so many teachers must endure from students—who know the consequences for their misbehavior will be slight. Too many teachers can tell depressing stories of students being sent the principal’s office after unloading a tidal wave of curse words—only to be sent right back to do it again. If, by chance, the student is actually punished, teachers often are then subjected to harsh criticism from a parent—one who will think nothing of continuing to harass that teacher online or troll them on social media.

In addition, the inevitable outcomes of decades of broken homes and societal dysfunction also land right on the school doorstep each day. Students who are depressed, traumatized, or abused are now a daily facet of the work lives of many teachers, who are given neither the tools nor the training to deal with problems that in many cases legitimately warrant hospital care. Throw in a smattering of pregnant students or teen parents, add a smidgen of suicidal ideation in essay assignments, a dash of cognitively damaged children, a splash of prescription and illegal drug use, and a soupçon of sexually aggressive and inappropriate classroom behavior, and a reasonable individual might wonder about the sanity of their career choice. Oh, we should not forget about all those “non-working” hours at home and over the summers that are consumed with grading and lesson planning. Why would you not stick around in the classroom—for thirty or more years?

​Let’s have a reality check: Is the promise of, say, a 5% raise really going to persuade our nation’s overworked and overstressed teachers to stay in the classroom? The price increases for Chardonnay and Xanax alone run far ahead of what cash-strapped districts can possibly offer to attract and retain effective teachers, who now can add the remote—but still frightening—potential for school shootings to their already expansive list of worries.

​Sadly, what would likely convince more teachers to stay in the classroom is what most school districts are least likely to provide: tougher discipline policies that include long suspensions or expulsions for repeat or flagrant offenders. Most teachers would like a raise (Who wouldn’t?), but most would likely much prefer a safer and more respectful classroom and school environment where they can focus on doing their jobs without fear of a student throwing a chair at their heads, cursing them out, or miming oral sex with a knowing smirk on their faces. Continuing to condone misbehavior out of some misguided desire to end the fabled “school to prison pipeline” robs the students who want to actually learn of their educations, reinforces the worst behaviors by a handful of students—and drives all but the most desperate or masochistic from the teaching profession. It is not the job of our nation’s teachers to be punching bags, and fatter paychecks will not solve our rapidly worsening teacher shortages.
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We need to rethink the both the daily practices and long-term goals of our nation’s public schools if we expect the system to survive. If we do not, the problems will only worsen.